Technology

Story highlights Salk's vaccine began with inoculating school children in April, 1955 Polio was declared eradicated in the U.S. in 1979, but still exists in other countries A new microneedle patch is easily used by minimally trained personnel (CNN)Over the last few years, we've been close to eradicating worldwide polio without full success. However, a new medical technology, an easily applied microneedle patch, could be the key to that goal. The biggest challenge standing in the way of eradicating polio has involved the operational logistics of getting the vaccine to people who need it, especially in difficult areas plagued by violence or poverty. The microneedle patch, which resembles a small, round adhesive bandage, could bring polio vaccines to the doorsteps of the people that need it. By applying it to the skin and pushing down, the vaccine is delivered in a matter of minutes. Rather than requiring highly trained medics, minimally trained personnel could go from door to … [Read more...] about 60 years after a vaccine, new technology may finally eradicate polio

[ Subscribe to “With Interest.” It’s a Sunday newsletter with essential business insights that’ll prep you for the week ahead.] Google is facing more challenges today than at any time in its 20-year history. Employees are outraged over sexual harassment. Executives are under scrutiny for an effort to secretly make a censored version of its search product for China. Google will shut down its social network next year after a security vulnerability was discovered. Political and social debates, including one over building military-grade artificial intelligence, are roiling the work force. Yet the man responsible for leading Google through this minefield is not one of the company’s founders — Larry Page and Sergey Brin — or even Eric Schmidt, the company’s former chief executive and chairman, who was ushered aside last year. Instead, the man in charge of arguably the most influential company in the world is Sundar Pichai, a soft-spoken … [Read more...] about Sundar Pichai of Google: ‘Technology Doesn’t Solve Humanity’s Problems’

PITTSBURGH — About 18 months ago, Shawn Blanton, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, met with some of his graduate students to redesign his course on artificial intelligence. “We need to transform this course to make it more relevant outside these walls,” he said. It had only been three years since Professor Blanton started the class, but as artificial intelligence moves from the stuff of dystopian fantasies — robots run amok — to the reality of everyday use, universities around the country are grappling with the best ways to teach it. This year, Carnegie Mellon said it became the first university in the country to offer a separate undergraduate A.I. degree through its College of Computer Science. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology last month announced plans to establish a college for A.I., backed by $1 billion in investments. And the expansion is not just happening in the country’s top science … [Read more...] about Colleges Grapple With Teaching the Technology and Ethics of A.I.

Story highlights African countries are investing in space for economic development Nigeria aims to have a astronaut in space by 2030 (CNN)African space programs are nothing new. In 1964 Edward Mukuka Nkoloso, high school teacher and self-appointed director of Zambia's national space program, had the bold ambition of beating the USA and the Soviet Union in the space race, and landing a Zambian on the Moon. Using unconventional techniques, such as spinning students around a tree in an oil drum, Nkoloso trained 12 astronauts. He was unsuccessful, but in 2014 there was a film released inspired by his efforts. Fortunately Africa's space programs now look much more promising. In fact, in the last decade the continent has entered a space race. An image of the International Space Station (ISS) is projected during the public viewing of deployment of Kenyas first cube satellite at the University of Nairobi in Nairobi. Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt and Algeria have taken … [Read more...] about Africa leaps forward into space technology

Charlene Li is the author of several books, and works with business leaders around digital, social and emerging technologies in her role as principal analyst at Altimeter, a Prophet company. The opinions expressed in this commentary are her own. In the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting last month, and more recently the Thousand Oaks, California shooting, the nation is deeply shaken and looking for someone or something to blame. Understandably, many people are increasingly calling on social media platforms to clamp down even more on hate speech. The alleged Pittsburgh synagogue shooter used social media site Gab, the alt-right answer to Twitter, to spew hate toward Jews, while the alleged California shooter is believed to have posted on Facebook, derisively chiding those who offer "hopes and prayers" after mass shootings. The blowback was so furious after the synagogue shooting that Gab had to briefly go offline because no web host would work with the site. And while I … [Read more...] about To head off mass shootings, we need better technology — not less